Yuma business owner, passenger killed in high-speed boat crash in Lake Havasu
YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA) – A Yuma business owner and one passenger were killed in a high-speed boat crash on Lake Havasu.
“He had a huge heart, and he paid attention,” said Javier Gonzalez, who knew Charles “Chip” Romer, a Yuma business owner who died in the boat crash.
Investigators said Romer, 65, and Jennifer Luzzi, 59, died following a high-speed boat crash on Lake Havasu Saturday night.
The boat slammed into a rocky peninsula, launched through the air and flipped upside down into a remote campsite.
For Gonzalez, the news came as a shock.
“Somebody who made a huge impression on my life. As soon as I found out that he had passed, I just saw the name…I saw Chip, and I saw Romer, and it just instantly hit me. Like, ‘Holy crap, man, this definitely hurts,'” Gonzalez expressed.
Gonzalez said he first met Romer in 2013 while working next door at a motorsports store near Romer Beverage of Yuma.
He said Romer quickly became a friend and someone to look up to.
“It is a feeling of sadness, but mainly for me, I was very fortunate to have met him, and I was fortunate to have him as a mentor,” Gonzalez shared. “I am into motorcycles and racing. I just happened to be watching one of the races, and a friend of mine had given me a call, saying, ‘Hey, man, there was a really bad boat accident in Lake Havasu.'”
Romer Beverage Company leadership said the business will remain open, and memorial service details will be announced later.
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